Charles Koch

Mike Burley/Topeka Capital-Journal via Associated Press

News about Charles Koch, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Jan. 27, 2015

Group of roughly 300 political donors, led by billionaires Charles G and David H Koch, plans to spend nearly $900 million in the 2016 campaign, figure that is in line with spending by the Republican and Democratic Parties; spending will eclipse the $400 million group laid out in 2012; group seeks to leverage Republican control of Congress as it pursues deregulation, tax cuts and other free-market policies. MORE

Jan. 21, 2015

Conservative oil billionaires Charles and David Koch will be holding their annual winter seminar, or so-called Koch primary, near Palm Springs, Calif, inviting Republican 2016 presidential hopefuls; GOP candidates are intensely competitive for Koch brothers' embrace and attention, as their network holds about 300 wealthy conservative donors; Kochs' political advocacy group Americans for Prosperity spent $120 million in 2012 presidential cycle. MORE

Nov. 15, 2014

Gail Collins Op-Ed column examines debate in Congress over extending series of temporary tax breaks, which many members of Congress support as alternative to more difficult feat of creating permanent tax policy; supports opposition from Koch brothers to such tax breaks for wind power companies, but only if oil industry lose its tax breaks as well. MORE

Oct. 19, 2014

Florida governor's race between Democrat Charlie Crist and Republican Rick Scott shows degree to which billionaire oligarchs have begun to supplant traditional party apparatus; contest could be described not only as battle between Democrats and Republicans, but also as battle between Tom Steyer, who supports candidates with strong environmental records, and David and Charles Koch, who support free-market conservatives. MORE

Aug. 31, 2014

Charles and David H Koch are feeling pressure from political activists to use their Americans for Prosperity political organization more aggressively in efforts to reshape Republican Party as 2016 election approaches. MORE

Jun. 18, 2014

Influence of billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch is both revered and reviled in their hometown Wichita, Kan; their extensive philanthropy has dazzled some residents, while others see Koch activities as insidious, an attempt to buy good will while the staunch conservatives and their political allies work to dismantle bedrock government programs important to average Kansans. MORE

Jun. 14, 2014

Editorial warns that Koch Companies Public Sector, part of industrial group owned by the Koch brothers, has hired big-name firm to lobby Congress on campaign-finance issues in attempt to thwart limits on campaign spending; holds that Koch brothers will likely use their influence to push fossil fuels and stymie proposed wind credit; says situation is perfect illustration of power of cumulative cash in Washington. MORE

May. 18, 2014

Vice-presidential candidacy of David H Koch as part of the Libertarian Party ticket in 1980 was first and only bid for high office by member of the Koch family; much of what occurred in that quixotic campaign shaped Koch and his brother Charles into the formidable and ideological force that they are today. MORE

Apr. 27, 2014

Editorial warns that Koch brothers and other big polluters are spending heavily to fight incentives for renewable energy, with latest example being their push for a surtax on homeowners with solar panels that sell power back to utilities; argues that campaigns are nothing more than a cynical push by coal industry to hold back threat posed by renewable energy to their profits. MORE

Apr. 6, 2014

Democrats are reviving strategy they used against Mitt Romney in 2012 and directing it toward conservative moguls David and Charles Koch, painting them as callous and indifferent to lives of ordinary people in their pursuit of profit and power; are seeking to make villains of the reclusive billionaires, whose political organizations have spent more than $30 million on ads so far to help Republicans win control of Senate. MORE

Mar. 22, 2014

Senate Majority PAC, which supports Democratic Senate candidates, is preparing a $3 million advertising campaign against Charles G Koch and David H Koch, libertarian-minded billionaire brothers who support conservative causes and have already poured millions of dollars into the 2014 midterm elections. MORE

Mar. 21, 2014

Americans for Prosperity, conservative advocacy group backed by David H and Charles G Koch brothers, is using data-driven approach as it pursues its overarching goal of convincing Americans that big government is bad government; it has been pouring millions of advertising dollars into competitive Senate races to rising alarm of Democrats. MORE

Mar. 11, 2014

Editorial praises effort lead by Sen Harry Reid to expose and criticize billionaires like the Koch brothers who are using their wealth to dismantle Democratic initiatives and give Republicans control of Senate in midterm elections; holds it is high time Democrats fought back against the corrupting influence of wealthy industrialists who only seek to further their financial gain. MORE

Mar. 6, 2014

Democrats are beginning a broad effort that aims to unmask conservative billionaires Charles G and David H Koch, tie them to Republican Senate candidates and portray them as pair of villains bent on wrecking progressive politics. MORE

Mar. 6, 2014

Gail Collins Op-Ed column questions whether it would be fitting to refer to billionaire siblings Charles and David Koch as oligarchs; says label may help give needed attention to effects of rampant political spending by very rich; speculates as to which other elites may be deserving of label. MORE

Jan. 26, 2014

Editorial warns that $20 million advertising blitz produced by Americans For Prosperity, conservative advocacy group financed by billionaire industrialists David and Charles Koch, is already taking a serious political toll on Democrats; contends the campaign and the Koch brothers' political advocacy network make a good case for increasing transparency in political advertising. MORE

Nov. 15, 2013

Americans for Prosperity, political nonprofit group founded by billionaire industrialists David and Charles Koch, spent $122 million during 2012, putting it among the biggest election spenders in the country. MORE

Nov. 4, 2013

Americans for Prosperity, group backed by billionaires Charles and David Koch, has invested heavily in local elections in Coralville, Iowa, denouncing town policies in favor of plan to cut spending and lower town debt; group's campaign, one of many across country, has drawn skepticism from local residents, becoming an informal referendum on the political involvement of outsiders. MORE

Oct. 25, 2013

Center to Protect Patient Rights, Arizona-based secretive nonprofit group with ties to billionaire conservative businessmen Charles and David Koch, admits to improperly failing to disclose more than $15 million in contributions it funneled into state referendum battles in California; chronology of how political nonprofit groups skirt disclosure laws in state illustrated. MORE

Oct. 11, 2013

Some of the most vocal elements of Republican Party's conservative wing are publicly splintering under attack for the government shutdown, a sign of growing concerns, among even hard-core conservatives like billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, that the defeat-health-care-at-any-cost strategy may have backfired. MORE

Sep. 13, 2013

Tax returns show that Freedom Partners, nonprofit group linked to Charles G and David H Koch, billionaire industrialists who support Republican causes, provided grants of $236 million to conservative organizations before 2012 president election; grants underscore broad reach of political movement two brothers and their advisers have built. MORE

Aug. 23, 2013

Charles and David Koch, brothers and billionaire industrialists who run Koch Industries, are no longer contemplating purchase of the Tribune Co's chain of newspapers. MORE

Aug. 13, 2013

Tia Lessin and Carl Deal documentary Citizen Koch loses promised subsidy from ITVS, arm of public television funded by Charles G Koch and David H Koch, billionaire industrialists who were subject of film; outcry over lost financing, which spurred accusations of self-censorship, helped filmmakers get money back via a Kickstarter fund-raising drive. MORE

May. 18, 2013

Detroit’s ever-growing black mountain of petroleum coke is the unloved, unwanted and long overlooked byproduct of Canada’s oil sands boom; Koch Carbon, controlled by industrialists Charles and David Koch, owns and sells the high-sulfur, high-carbon waste, usually overseas, where it is burned as fuel. MORE

May. 9, 2013

Effort by conservative billionaires David H Koch and Charles G Koch to take over Tribune Company, which owns Los Angeles Times and seven other newspapers, has set off firestorm of opposition in Los Angeles; public employee unions, leaders of California State Legislature and liberal advocacy groups are moving to block sale, denouncing it as threat to public workers and Democratic Party issues. MORE

May. 1, 2013

Charles and David Koch, billionaire businessmen and champions of conservatism, are planning to stay engaged politically, redoubling their efforts to influence elections, despite setbacks from 2012 presidential race. MORE

Apr. 21, 2013

Charles and David Koch, billionaire industrialists and supporters of libertarian causes, are exploring bid to buy Tribune Company's eight regional newspapers; in political terms, papers could serves as broader platform for Kochs' laissez-faire ideas. MORE

Mar. 6, 2012

Lawsuit filed by Cato Institute founders David and Charles Koch against Cato over its governing structure brings tensions to new level; Cato officials say the billionaire conservative Koch brothers are threatening the institute's identity and independence. MORE

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Freedom Partners, an association linked to the billionaires Charles and David Koch, will begin a new lobbying effort pressuring lawmakers to shut down the bank, a top target of conservative activists and outside groups.

A donor working with Anthony Russo called and e-mailed Charles Koch several times, seeking a contribution of “several million” in the effort on Proposition 32, according to an e-mail obtained by investigators.